This invention relates to an aortic valve dilatation instrument and treatment useful for adult patients having aortic stenosis, especially acquired calcific stenosis, a disease which is prevalent in elderly people.
Stenosis of the aortic valve has long been known to cause serious diminishment of blood flow from the heart. The critical position of the aortic valve, preceding the arteries that nourish the heart and brain as well as all other parts of the body, makes this a very serious ailment.
For those patients sufficiently well to endure the surgery, it has become common to replace the aortic valve with a prosthetic device while the patient is maintained by an extra-corporeal circulation system that by-passes the heart and valve. There is, however, risk with this major surgical procedure and there remains a large population who are too weak or otherwise do not wish to undergo such surgery.